The Philippine Embassy here is verifying the whereabouts of 13 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) out of 30 hired as female janitresses. Another 17 were reportedly deployed by Aces, a Philippine manpower agency, according to a source, who said that the 17 janitresses were deployed in Riyadh but were moved to Hail on Dec. 12 last year and are said to be living without any accommodation facility provided to them.The whereabouts of the other 13 are unknown following their transfer to other employers by the Saudi recruiters. Maria Elizabeth Embry, a Filipino activist and advocate campaigning against trafficking of OFWs said she was in touch with the Philippines Embassy here and some officials in the Philippines on the matter.A fellow OFW in the area said a man visited the 17 OFWs earlier in the morning and asked them to sign a contract paper written in Arabic, but they declined to do so.Embry exchanged e-mails with Philippines envoy Ezzedin Tago who reportedly said, “We received a report on the missing women yesterday (Jan. 6),” adding that the labor attaché had asked the employer to meet with him on the same day. Tago said that the attaché was also in contact with one of the employees.After another exchange of e-mails between Embry and Walden Bello dated Jan. 9, Bello promised to attend to this problem on a priority basis. On Jan. 8, a contact person from Hail told Embry that the OFWs were still awaiting communication from the embassy there. According to Embry, the Aces agency's recruitment license was canceled by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Even so, it managed to deploy those 30 workers to Saudi Arabia.She asked the POEA chief as to how the agency which had no license could deploy the 30 OFWs to the Kingdom last month. Recruitment agencies are also advertising their services online by announcing 100 vacancies in Dammam (Eastern Province) and asking for ‘Candidates, aged 21-35 (with or without experience) with a pleasing personality.’In October last year, the POEA had canceled some unscrupulous recruitment agencies based in the Philippines for tampering work contracts. The move was made after complaints were filed against this agency by Filipino workers who had been deployed to Saudi Arabia as nurses but ended up working as technicians. The workers alleged that a certain agency issued them two contracts: One was used for processing their exit clearance at the POEA while the other one was handed to them by the employer upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia. In the original contract, the complainants were supposed to be employed either as nurses or midwives in different hospitals but they ended up working as nurses or dental technicians.The employment contract was supposed to take effect upon the OFWs arrival in Saudi Arabia but it was changed after their passing the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties Exam. The salary, transportation allowance, food allowance and lodging stated in the first contract were also reduced or totally omitted in the new contract.

What's happening around Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: A Saudi citizen was killed in shelling fired across the border from Yemen into the southwest of Saudi Arabia on Sunday, local media reported.A shell fell on a house around dawn in Najran province, civil defense department spokesman Ali bin Om...

JEDDAH: Female voters in Al-Ahsa have urged the authorities handling the municipal elections to drop the condition of presenting the national identity card while enrolling themselves in the voters’ list. Some women in Madinah too have appealed for mo...

JEDDAH: After the recent incident of a rat eating from a bowl at a well-known food outlet in a Jeddah mall came to light, residents have called for food hygiene ratings of restaurants and roadside eateries across the city.Although the municipality wo...

JEDDAH: A muezzin (one who recites the Adhaan) of a Riyadh mosque recently sprung a surprise in the Austrian tourist town of Zell am See by his Adhaan after taking permission from members of a musical band.Social media is abuzz with the news and vide...

RIYADH: A Sri Lankan national, who works as a cleaner in the Kingdom, was commended and rewarded by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) for returning a bag containing gold to its owner.“Prince Sultan bin Salman, president o...

RIYADH: Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Shahriar Alam arrived in Jeddah on Sunday to meet with his Saudi counterpart Nizar Madani on Monday.On arrival at the royal terminal, the minister was received by Director General of the...

RIYADH: A report of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage predicts the rate of growth in job opportunities in the country's tourism sector between 2010 and 2020 will be 10 percent a year as compared to a global growth rate of 2.5 per...

JEDDAH: Two million meningitis vaccines have been distributed among health centers in 20 governorates and provinces across the Kingdom for domestic Haj pilgrims.It is mandatory for all pilgrims to be vaccinated against meningitis and for those coming...

JEDDAH: The Makkah governorate has announced four new road projects linking Makkah and Jeddah. The new roads will facilitate smoother and faster travel between the cities.An estimated 35 million people will benefit from the projects, which will inclu...

JEDDAH: A major disaster is waiting to happen in the fish market of Madinah because of the callous attitude of traders toward handling of gas cylinders. A visit to the market presents a dreadful picture of cylinders kept on top of each other without...

JEDDAH: Information and Culture Minister Adel Al-Toraifi has approved the appointment of Khalid Bo-Ali as editor in chief of the Eastern Province-based Alsharq Arabic newspaper. He was nominated for the post by the board of directors of the newspaper...

JEDDAH: Jamil Farsi, head of the Gold and Jewelry Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), says he expects 3,000 job opportunities to be created for Saudi women in the jewelry design and gold sector across the Kingdom, with ab...

JEDDAH: More than 50 visually challenged people successfully performed Umrah with the help of the Ebsar Foundation for the Visually Impaired and the Ambassadors of Volunteers organization under their program “Umrah for the visually impaired,” which w...

JEDDAH: Although the Ministry of Labor is opening its doors to receive complaints from private sector employees, many Saudi females employed in cosmetic and perfume shops in Madinah are not making complaints about being overworked due to fear of losi...

JEDDAH: Health Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Falih is set to increase the number of beds in all private sector hospitals, as per new implementation regulations adopted this year.The move will help address the problem of delays in public sector projects, as...